Leftovers
by msjgatsby
Summary: An outtake from episode 3x02, where Mike misses dinner.
1. Chapter 1

As long as I'm posting stories I wrote a while ago but was never pleased with that are rotting in my vault, here's another one. This one is an outtake that picks up in 03x02 Where Mike is in Paige's room and tells her what happen to Lena and then holds her while she cries.

* * *

Mike feels like maybe this was his unfinished business that brought him back from the dead all along, to hold Paige while she cried. This was the only thing he'd been wanting, no needing, to do since he first discovered she was missing.

Now that the truth is out there. That she knows what happened to Lena, he feels like he can breath again. He can feel her chest heaving up and down with each sob, and thinks he should have done this a long time ago.

He holds her tight to his body, ignoring the pain in his abdomen. He needs to feel her heart racing against his chest, and her tears on his shoulder. She's back in his arms, and for the first time since she went missing, Mike feels hopeful. Closing his eyes, breathing in her scent and running his fingers comfortingly through her hair, he wishes time could stop right here.

It doesn't of course. It both slows down and speeds up at the same time, but neither of them seem to be able to pull away. It's like they're magnets that have been held apart for so long that now that they've crashed back together they won't let go. After a moment though, her sobs subside and her breathing slows, and Mike prepares himself for her next move, because he's unable to be the one to pull away first.

"Why are you doing this, Mike?" Paige's voice is muffled against his shoulder.

Mike smiles sadly to himself as he thinks about the best way to answer her question. On one hand, when he woke up in the hospital and found out he'd been given a second chance, he swore to himself he would learn from his mistakes and never lie to Paige again. On the other hand, he knows in his heart she can't handle the truth. Not yet. It's not fair to her for Mike to put that on her right now. Not while she's still getting over everything. He can't make this about him and his feelings. It needs to be about her.

"You know why." Mike admits, resisting the familiar urge to kiss her hairline. Pulling back just an inch from where he holds her tightly pressed to his body, he looks down into her eyes he says in a soft voice, "But we both know if I say it, you'll run even faster and Graceland needs you, Paige."

It's a half lie. Graceland would be fine without her, but Mike needs her here. He knows now is not the time to talk about the two of them. She's not ready. He'll bring it up another time. When they're in a better place.

She stares up at him with tears in her eyes. He knows he's taken her to the brink of what she can handle tonight, and even though he wants to take another step, to stay with her now that they've reached this tentative truce he knows he should walk away. He knows Paige, and she needs time to process things alone.

"I should get back to this." She says, stepping away from him shyly and wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Let me help." Mike says, stepping forward. The last thing Mike wants to do is help her pack. He doesn't want to contribute to her leaving him. Yet he needs to help her, with whatever she'll allow. He can't stand to see her in so much pain, and he will do anything to make her life just a little easier. Even help her leave him.

"I'll take care of it. You shouldn't be lifting boxes. You should be in bed." She says, and the words should be innocent, but there's an underlying intimacy she didn't mean to be there.

Paige's eyes flit to her bed, which is covered in boxes, and then nervously back up to Mike's. She didn't mean for what she said to bring up memories of Mike in bed, but they hit her suddenly and as her eyes lock with Mike's she knows he can tell what she's thinking.

Embarrassed, she pushes the images of lovemaking and says with a forced nervous laugh, "I don't know when I accumulated so much shit. I don't even remember where half this stuff goes…"

The simple words spark hope in his heart that maybe she's changed her mind, and he can't help the intensity in his words. "I remember everything."

It's true, he remembers everything about this room. He remembers every picture, every book, every hushed secret and every beautiful sin that took place on that bed. The room falls silent. For a moment he just stares at her, and she stares back and he can't hide the look of longing. He sees the look in her eyes now though, and worries he's said too much. He longs to throw the boxes to the floor and wrap her up tight in her covers and hold her until dawn, but he knows it's impossible.

"Mike, I-" She begins with a shaky voice.

"I'm going to call it an early night." Mike cuts her off, even though he's been waiting for months for her to talk to him, "You should take a break, and go eat. Charlie probably won't let anyone else start without you."

She gives him a nod through her tears. He didn't want her to be alone, but knew his presence wasn't what she needed. Tonight was a victory and Mike needed to leave before he did something to ruin the small tender moment.

Giving her one last tender look, trying to memorize her in case this is their last moment alone together, Mike forces himself to head back to his room. He's done all he can for tonight. Now he just needs to give her space and hope for the best. For as social as she is, Mike knows she needs time to think. Paige processes things better alone. He prays he got through to her.

Mike goes to bed, but he doesn't sleep easily. The pills and the pain mix together so he feels an uneasy restlessness. He's never able to achieve any real rest, but he never feels truly awake.

His dreams blur with reality so he's not sure if when the door to his room opens gently, and he feels fingers gently run back through his hair pushing it away from his face if it's real. The cold plate of leftovers he finds sitting on his nightstand the next morning makes it clear that he wasn't alone all night.


	2. Chapter 2

If the cold plate of leftovers made Mike's heart swell with hope, seeing Paige's boxes sitting by the door when he comes downstairs quickly deflates it.

He had hoped that maybe after last night she had changed her mind about leaving. Apparently not. He suddenly feels his heart racing, the pain burning through him at once, and wishes he hadn't taken the last of his oxycontin last night. He doesn't want to feel this. Not the wound in his side, or the crushing of his heart or the sudden despair that fills him. He just wants all of it to go away. He wants to be numb.

The thoughts come rushing in, too fast for him to handle.

 _She doesn't want you Warren._

 _She knows the truth and she still hates you._

 _She's leaving you and you'll never see her again. You'll never have a chance to fix this._

 _She doesn't want you. And why would she? Your career is nothing. You're a failure. Why did you even bother coming back? You should have stayed dead. You couldn't even do that right._

Mike stands there and helplessly stares at the boxes by the door, when he hears from behind him a jolly voice calling out his name.

"Morning sleeping beauty! You want some waffles?" Jakes calls out from the kitchen, and Mike looks around, surprised anyone else is up, let alone sounding so chipper. The boxes still sit by the door taunting him, and he wonders if no one else has seen them.

"Yo! Has anyone seen Briggs? I gotta get to the airport." Charlie asks, dragging a carryon bag behind her as she comes down the stairs.

"What happened to your hand?" Jakes asks, looking at Johnny's bandaged hand when he follows Charlie down the stairs. At least Johnny has the proper amount of melancholy about him, but Mike feels everyone is acting far too normal considering the travesty.

"What happened to your face?" Johnny retorts back aggressively.

"Somebody's touchey this morning? Ok, just for that? You get the burnt waffle." Jakes says, throwing it on his plate.

"Hello! Plane leaves in an hour. Has anyone seen Paul?" Charlie yells out over the two bickering agents.

"I don't think he came over last night after your guy's… scuffle." Jakes says, hoping he's not minimizing the issue.

Mike winces at the awkward memory of witnessing the fight. He can't even imagine what Charlie's going through, and he wants to be there for her, but all he can think about is how he wants something to just take away all his pain. The world is going on in the kitchen like normal, the roommates are bickering and smiling and eating waffles, and Mike just wants to cry out to them because it feels like his world is falling apart. Paige is leaving.

Everyone was acting so normal. Of course they were. Paige was moving out, but they were all still friends. They would still talk to Paige if she wasn't sleeping next door, but with all these months of conflict, seeing Paige in the hallways was all Mike got. She would move out and he would never see her again.

"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of. It's probably for the best I'm leaving for a couple days. Let him get over it, but you guys keep an eye on him for me, ok?" Charlie points at the other agents who just nod or grumble.

"You really sure you should be going?" Mike asks. He feels selfish asking her to stay because his motives aren't pure. While he is concerned about Charlie, in a selfish way, he feels like everyone's abandoning him. Paige is leaving.

"I'm absolutely sure. I need to do this Mike." Charlie says with resolve. "Don't worry I'll be back before you know it. Sorry you missed dinner last night. I saved you a plate in the fridge, but Jakes ate it this morning." Charlie tells Mike, while glaring over at Jakes who doesn't look the least bit sorry.

"That's what happens when you sleep in!" Jakes says simply. Mike just looks numbly down at the floor, but the soft padding of bare feet down the stares makes him look up longingly at the blonde agent who enters the kitchen shyly.

"Well if it isn't the hero herself." Charlie grins at her.

"Hey P. Sorry I couldn't be there yesterday. I would have loved to have seen you get that medal." Johnny says, pulling Paige into a hug, though his mind was still clearly elsewhere.

Mike watches the whole interaction cautiously. Paige hasn't seemed to have noticed he was in the room yet, standing awkwardly off to the side. He wants to rush forward and beg her to stay, but he can't offer her anything more than he did last night. He feels utterly defeated.

"Thank you." Paige says, hugging Johnny back.

"And now you've heard the whole acceptance speech. It's like you were there." Charlie teases, joining in on the hug uninvited as Paige playfully swats at her.

"Give the girl some room. Paige, what do you want in your waffles?" Jakes says from where he's standing at the stove.

"Jakes is cooking for everyone? What's the occasion?" Paige grins over at Jakes from where she stands crushed between the other two agents.

"Jakes is cooking a celebratory breakfast." Charlie answers her before Jakes can.

"C'mon, dinner last night was enough. I mean it, you guys. Stop." Paige says, looking modest, but Mike knows she's still not comfortable with the whole thing. Still she seems a little more at peace with the whole thing than she did last night. Mike hopes he maybe had something to do with that. She glances over at Mike and catches him staring, but he lowers his eyes guiltily to his cup of coffee. He feels like he's intruding and considers going back to bed.

"Oh no, we're over that. That's yesterday's news. Wouldn't want you to get a big head. This breakfast is celebrating that you decided to stay at Graceland." Jakes says, holding the spatula out at her in a salute.

Mike brings his head up from his cup of coffee to turn to stare at her with wide eyes, hoping he didn't hear that wrong. He didn't think his heart could take the disappointment at this point.

"Yo man, give me a nonburned one. You've got plenty of batter." Johnny says letting go of Paige and walking over to Jakes to try to steal a pancake.

"Not before mine. I've got a flight to catch." Charlie says cutting in line in front of Johnny and leaving Mike and Paige on the other side of the kitchen away from the rest of them.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" Paige says to Mike a little shyly, as she opens the door to the refrigerator and grabs the orange juice.

Mike doesn't miss the looks exchanged between his roommates, but his breath feels caught in his throat. This is the first time Paige has approached him since he died. This is the first time she's approached him with a smile, no matter how small, since way before that. He thinks the last time she initiated a conversation that wasn't laced with the undertones of a fight was before Jess arrived.

"The boxes… I thought..." Mike stares at her confused, but grateful. Still, he can't let himself hope. Not until he hears it from her lips.

"Thought I'd take the opportunity to do a little decluttering. You know, get rid of some old baggage. Make room for new things." She gives him a small smile, and Mike's stomach twists.

Realizing the rest of the roommates are staring as the two share a private moment, Paige quickly looks away from Mike and walks over into the kitchen to throw her arms around Charlie from behind, "Plus, Charlie's dinner was so good, how could I leave?"

"Aw, don't rub it in. Boy didn't get any. Jakes ate Mikey's!" Johnny whines to Paige.

"You snooze you lose!" Jakes says flippantly.

Mike's eyes stare at Paige. He knows that he has been openly staring since she walked into the kitchen, possibly since he first met her. He hopes his roommates will chalk it up to the drugs, but he can't look away. She's looking back shyly, and he knows it was her who made sure the plate was in his room for him.

By the time he'd woken up, the plate by his bed this morning had been sitting out too long to eat and he'd had to throw it away. Yet the simple act of her bringing it to him meant the act was not wasted. It was quite simply the best meal he'd ever had, and he hadn't eaten a bite. Looking up at her he says sincerely, "It was delicious."


End file.
